Crossroads
by Brawlfire Prime
Summary: [Kong: Skull Island] During the expedition's first encounter with Kong, Colonel Packard makes a different decision.


**Author's note: Something quick I whipped up after seeing Skull Island in theaters recently.**

 **This was not beta read, so feel free to point out any errors, grammatical or otherwise.**

 **Complete for now, might expand on this later.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Colonel Preston Packard had never seen anything like it before in his 20 years of service.

Before his very eyes, the giant ape that stood in front of him had destroyed two Hueys and a Sea Stallion with nothing but a tree and its fists.

It was enormous, big enough to block the sun behind it and when it roared, he could see its canines were the size of artillery shells.

His instincts told him that his team had more than enough firepower; M134 miniguns, rocket pods, all could be used to take it down. But the look in the ape's eyes told a different story.

The three helicopters it took down were just a warning. Right now it was a giant mass of muscle and fury. It had good reason too, they had been bombing its territory, after all.

Packard had a decision to make.

Either tell his men to open fire, which could just piss this thing off even more or tell them to stand down and hope to god it doesn't swat them out of the sky.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His pride didn't want the attack to go unanswered but in his head, he didn't want to risk losing any more men.

The radio chatter from his men were growing louder and more insistent in his helmet's earpiece, giving him little time to consider his choices.

But in the end, Packard swallowed his pride and made the call.

"Stand down! All Fox units stand down! Repeat, stand down. Do not open fire, over!"

The Hueys, which were frantically circling the creature to find a firing position now simply hovered in the air.

Packard looked at it cautiously, waiting for a response. Would it keep attacking or understand his attempt at diplomacy and respond in kind?

A few minutes passed where the creature simply observed the choppers around it, nostrils flaring and canines bared.

Tension was thick, the only sound he could hear was the steady _thump thump_ of his helicopter's rotor blades.

But thankfully, the look in its eyes softened and the creature simply turned around and left.

Packard got back into his seat and sighed in relief.

Crisis averted.

He spoke into the radio, voice calm. "All Fox units prepare for touchdown, prep med kits and tend to the wounded, Fox one out."

A chorus of "rogers" answered his order.

But then he thought of Randa and his eagerness to get here. His hands gripped the bench tightly, knuckles white. He lied about why they were here.

The commander felt his Huey bank to the same clearing where they dropped the LandSat team and saw the rest landing as well, the prop wash from their blades shaking the trees and kicking up dust before the pilots shut them off.

Once everyone landed, he linked up with Cole, the only other senior officer left in his unit.

"What's the count?" He said, referring to the casualties they suffered.

"We have four choppers left; yours, mine, Slivko's and the Chinook. Hodges and Dunn are injured but they'll make it," Cole replied, talking about the pilots of Fox Three. "Rogers is fine. Can't say the same about Pierce, Saraf and Galleta, though."

He held out three dog tags which the Colonel took and pocketed.

Three names, three good men who had unwavering faith in his command.

All dead.

Packard sighed, "Damn…."

"At least most of us are still here, Colonel." Cole said, looking at the other soldiers milling around and the injured pilots they were tending to. "Could've been worse, a lot worse."

"Yeah….." he replied somberly, "Where's Randa?"

Cole jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Went back to his team after we touched down, sounds excited about something."

Packard quirked an eyebrow, "Excited?"

The other man simply nodded.

"Alright. Cole, Get on the radio. See if you can find out if Chapman and his crew survived. We'll figure something out from there."

"Yes, sir." Cole gave him a salute and walked back to the choppers.

Packard then turned his attention to the civilians and started walking towards them.

He needed to have a good, long talk with Randa.


End file.
